About the Practitioner
St Brigid's is located in a very low socio-economic area with little or no Restorative Practice in any of the surrounding schools. When St Brigid's opened, the founding principal, Julie Terry, was eager to imbed the principles of Restorative Practice into the culture of the College. I was raised in this area so I have a deep connection with many of the families and organisations as well as a desire to improve community outcomes in the areas of drugs, abuse and sexual assault. That is where my passion was ignited and I am excited to continue to develop my understanding of restorative practice.
I have a teaching degree and am currently in a middle management position, involving wellbeing and the training of other teachers in the principles of Restorative Practice. Whilst relatively young, I have developed strong relationships with teachers and students and continue to build these relationships using Restorative Practice principles. I also have strong connections with the local community through my involvement in various organisations, including sporting clubs and surf lifesaving.
In schools, restorative practice can easily be misconstrued by both students and teachers alike as a result of the close-working nature of the teacher-student relationship. The expectations from both parties on what restorative processes look like and the proposed resolution often conflict with these expectations as parties may desire friendship, punishment or peace - thereby adding another layer of conflict and reducing the effectiveness of RP. For this reason, my restorative practice is focused on education through the removal of these pre-determined expectations for a variety of parties. For teenagers who can be quite black and white, people are often enemies or friends so it is crucial that one establishes the notion that people can exist and collaborate on the basis of mutual respect and a restorative outcome does not necessarily result in friendship. For parents who desire the punishment of another student as recompense, it is vital that natural consequences are discussed and the emotional connotations of punishment are removed. For teachers who may struggle with behaviour management, creating what I call a 'false peace' by turning a 'blind eye' to some of the behaviours of challenging students is a common error some teachers make when seeking to establish principles of RP. RP is not about forming friendships and maintaining a 'false peace' but rather, RP acknowledges conflict and difference, actively seeking to reconcile the two in the community's consciousness.
Organisation
Catholic High School.
House Leader / Leader of Wellbeing
- Coaching
- Leadership development
- School - K-12
- Training
- Violence risk assessment
- Violence risk management
- Workplace investigations
- Workplace Training